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The making of Inside the Meltdown by Frontline Producer, Michael Kirk of WGBH, Boston.
Sample Postings: 6 of the most recent entries ordered by date
[ Friday, September 30, 2005 13:34 PDT ]
You know it is Fall in the Heartland when…..
Section:
Essays
Summary:
This week, the new and returning college students of UCDavis rallyed and swarmed the town of Davis. And then there is always Congress, the California Legislature and the new session of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Main:
Nationally, there is some semiserious politics in the News:
If, the Senate vote on the confirmation of Judge John G. Roberts, Jr. is any indication, the Heartland again wins big time. Illinois Senators Dubin and Obama in the negative were the solid exception. In addition, there were significant votes of conscience and conviction by solid Democratic Party loyalists from Vermont, Connecticut, Oregon and Washington. Party loyalty may be truly tested in the next round. We will soon see how the ex-boxer, litigator and Senate Minority Leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, answers the bell.
Meanwhile, the new Chief Justice continues to out class his critics, confirm the confidence of his friends and impress most of the public and pundits. He is on the job Monday. The President is expected to put forth is second nominee to the Court shortly. Many local activist and academics are worried about
of possible choices because they are not “Roberts” or “O’Connor” or “Warren” or ... clones.
Locally, you know it is the start of a new season in the Heartland of the Central Valley of California because:
* There is serious new and shiny bike congestion in the designated lanes and campus cross roads, particularly at lunch time.
* The Aggie Football team has been playing for a month and racked up a win over Stanford two weeks ago. It is stll the topic media, watercooler and locker room conversation.
* The Aggie Marching Banda is fund raising so they can continue a 75 year tradition of travelling to
everyfootball and basketball game.
* The towns fly population is exploding because of the tomato residues left in the surrounding fields of Yolo County.
* The UCDavis tenured teaching faculty are exchanging summer travel and vacation stories.
* The Schaal Pool and the Davis H.S. Blue Devil Girl’s Water Pool team is hosting a two day “Championship” tournament of 16 teams of amazing tanned and tough amazons. Sunday is the annual Sacramento Master’s Spring Pentathlon with UCDavis women’s swimming and water polo team support.
* Campus Departments, Divisions Sections are scrambling to hire students and staff to keep the doors open and the wheels rolling.
* There is the rush to finish the endless campus construction, upgrade and maintenance projects.
* The playing fields, the ARC and the paths west of UCDavis are filled with IM sports teams, March Banda practices, ROTC students doing conditioning drills, Cross Country Team workouts, and people putting the performance machines through their paces.
* The weather report is freezing in Tahoe and fires in L.A.
* The political folks are out in the Farmer’s Market registering voters, selling Katrina Red Cross BBQ Fund raiser tickets, explaining their pet Proposition position and buttonholing other members of the choir and fellow marchers in the last war against ...... Contibutions are accepted in exchange for a hotbutton bumper sticker, book or CD burner product. The local campus American Medical Student Club was featuring their 15th Annual 5k 10k fund raiser run along the Arboretum on 15 October. They were refreshingly factual, informative, cool and professional.
More:
[ Saturday, September 24, 2005 12:35 PDT ]
A Fall Weekend in the Heartland
Section:
Weather
Summary:
Making choices has consequences we are told. New Orleans, one of the nation’s favorite cities to visit, has been losing population for years. Many locals have apparently chosen to relocate To Chicago, to Detroit, to New York and to the nation-states of Texas and California.
Main:
The typical flatlander in Yolo appear to be little in common with Gulf and Delta folk. They are aware that there is history of flooding in the Central Valley and our own Delta to the east of San Francisco Bay. But, even the State Commissioner of Insurance, John Garamendi choses to live and work there. Yes, there are levees in Sacramento and there is causeway between Davis and and the river to the east.
Today, locals are doing their usual thing.
* Complaining about the local weather and enviromental pollution. A slight breeze, clear skies, 75 degrees at noon is the report.
* The kids are playing soccer and Arroyo Pool and the AqualDarts are hosting a swimming meet. Yards are being cleaned, students are champing at the bit to start Fall Classes on Monday and attend the UCDavis v SSU Causeway Classic Football Game on this, the fourth football week-end of the season. Let us keep out priorities straight here.
* It is hard in the Heartland of the California Nation State to believe that Mother Nature is sometimes not benign and benevolent.
More:
[ Thursday, September 22, 2005 12:08 PDT ]
John Roberts: The Bicoastal Connection and the Odd Man Out
Section:
Legal
Summary:
Five Democrats on the 18 member Judiciary Committe voted against confirming Judge John Roberts to the post of Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. For Biden of Connecticut, it was a close call; for Kennedy of Massachusetts, it was not; for Schumer of New York, there was a “no deal” kind of thing; for Feinstein of California it was ?——her conscience? For Durbin of Illinois, it was “whatever”. A true Pol to the Core. Thank Daley for Legal Notes.
Main:
Durbin appears to be the odd man out. He is the only negative vote from the Hearland. Feingold and Kohl of Wisconsin are not products of urban ward state political calulations and appear to more in the moderate main stream.
Senator Feinstein is the more interesting study. She did the expected and without visible regret and no apparent cover. Clearly, the Party can not afford to risk the lose of the passion and the support of their core fund raisers and in-kind donors in South and Northern Coastal California. However, all window dressing aside, the changing demographics of the Great Central Valley are in the process of changing the conventional wisdom and the prevailing paradigm of California as the “go to bank” and an electoral college given. It is not a matter of if. It is a matter of when.
No wonder, local college age summer activists home from school in Boston are pushing Cambridge-like. Italian style proportion voting, electoral college “reform” and oppose the pending fall election Proposition for a non-partisan commision redistricting plan.
Meanwhile, the possibility of a combined Katrina hurricane people migration effect appears to be in the making for California. Few of the displaced have found there way to Yolo County. A few Tulane students have found spots at UCDavis. But, using neighboring Travis AFB for a massive airlift is on the drawing board. However,the cost and availability of affordable housing is a practical long-term local problem. Check the insert in the Friday, Davis Enterprise for details.
More:
[ Monday, September 19, 2005 14:44 PDT ]
UCDavis Aggie Football: Davis vs Goliath
Section:
Sports
Summary:
On Saturday evening at Stanford Stadium, the UCDavis Aggies make sports history. They played the storied part of David and bagged their first giant. The Cardinal was the victim; the Davis Community is the long term victor. The Palo Alto party started early. There was the Friday night Aggie Banda march from the Campus to the Civil Center, the Saturday two hour bus and caravan from the Heartland of the Valley to the heart of Silicon Valley, and the field full-moon festivities following a 73 yard final drive that ended with a TD pass with 8 seconds on the clock and 20 v 17 on the scoreboard. Sweet!
Main:
Like the fabled team in the movie “Hoosiers”, and the 8 member basketball team from Bellfountain in Benton County Oregon that beat the big boys from Franklin and Lincoln H.S.s for the state championship in 1937, the Aggies are now Giant Killers. Audaces fortuna iuvat!
And here is the rest of the story:
* UCDavis WR Tony Kays of Elk Grove is the leading receiver in 1-A and 1-AA ranks after 3 games.
* The Athletic Department bussed 55 player from Davis to Palo Alto on the day of the game.
* 10,000 vocal UCDavis supporters were in the stands. Stanford fans sat on their hands.
* Last year’s team bet Stanford in a Palo Alto scrimmage.
* All of the UCDavis team coaches teach PE ,activityand skills classes to real undergraduates.
* Many have tenue and security. Most are long-term residents of Davis, live near the campus, are sustained members of the community at many levels. Like Jim Socher, they tend remain around after retiring.
* There is no PE major at UCDavis.
* The graduation rate of UCDavis athletes is the envy of the Pac 10 and ranks with the best in the UC system.
* Fund raising for the new FB Stadium on the West Campus just got a boost.
* Recruiting in all sports for Scholar/Athletes will continue to improve.
* The Bay Area Media including Jake Curtis and Ted Robinson have been favorably impressed.
The message is this:
* Attitude,Competence, Practice, Pride and Character count.
* Athletic competition has a place in the culture of the Community and the Campus.
* Coaches and programs that are connected to their community, students, faculty and each other have a build-in advantage that is difficult to duplicate.
BTW: Structured Programs in Strength, Conditioning and Injury prevention continue to show results.
More:
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[ Tuesday, September 13, 2005 13:51 PDT ]
John Roberts: Student, Candidate, or Winner?
Section:
Politics
Summary:
The nominee to replace William Rehnquist as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court is product of a system that allows the cream of the crop to rise to the top of his or her profession. Dianne Goldman Feinstein is another rich example of what that system yieldsl . Separated by gender, generation and geography they both parties share qualities of character and circumstance that places them among the nation’s elite leaders. One is a privileged,proven and tested politician from San Francisco. The other is a cool and respected legal advocate from Indiana. Both are graduates of Catholic High Schools. One school is located in the Flood Mansion atop Pacific Heights in The City. The other is located in the flat country side not far from the steel mills of Gary, Indiana.
Main:
For several days, most of the eighteen Senators on the Judiciary Committee , read their prepared statements and questions. Roberts’ oral responses were not. The Elective Politics of Legislators dominated the hot Rhetoric from the heights of the hearing room. The Roberts responses were those of a quick, measured and mature legal mind. In addition, he supplied humor, humanity and civility without rancor, self congratulatory bombast, arrogance, attitude or flagging attention. He maintained Strong eye contact during 16 hours of the televised public proceedings.
* Senator Feinstein seemed to be rationalizing her pending negative vote against Roberts on the grounds that he may be a legal threat to legal abortion, women’s legal rights and the right of local ,state and federal legislators to decide stake-holder and market place winners and losers by fiat.
* In the first instance, she is fighting a war that has been won. In the second, her appears to be overreaching with an old and decredited ” Equal Worth” economic feminist argument. In the third, men and women of good heart and sound mind can disagree as to the Constitutional limits granted or implied in the Bill of Rights as to protected speech and to legal rights, protections and restrictions at the beginng and the end of human life.
* Some have written or said that Roberts is pandering for votes in the confirmation process. However, will Roberts be a wiser or more fair Judge is he is elevated by a Ginsberg like 97 aye vs binary 51 aye vote? In a country that is politically divided, the fairness of the former is widely favored, but not expected——- even when possible, from courageous but partisan political leaders like Dianne Feinstein. At the end of the day, as the only woman on the Judicial Committee, she alone among those on her side, shows some degree of softening her opposition. However, her pending negative vote will not, as they say, “be taken personally” by the Judge. The judgement of history and the national electorate will be less kind.
We note that the senor senator from California has graciously conceded the Judge up to 40 years on the bench. If fate and good fortune are similarly kind to Senator Feinstein, she may be in office for the next 17 years. May the legacy of Dr. Leon Goldman, Surgeon and Gentleman, continue to shine like a beacon for the concerned, conflicted, the confused and the adrift. “L’chaim!”
* Meanwhile, Heartlanders continue to hope for the best, but expect the ..... from the loyal opposition in the forth estate and the Senate. As expected, the nytimes and other media sources have editorialized against in the pending Judge Roberts confirmation vote. We know why the Judical Branch of government is held in higher public estime than the Legislative Branch. No one seem to be on the bridge or at the wheel. Senator Read and the nytimes are against the Judge. The Washington Post, the SF Chronicle, Senator Leahey are positive on the nominee.
* Regardless of how or when Senators Feinstein and Schumer vote in this round, it will be sweaty palms time in the next if the nominee is a clearly qualified, smart, gutsy,unflappable and deferential woman.
More:
[ Sunday, September 04, 2005 14:09 PDT ]
Hurricane Katrina: Ripple Effects from the Gulf to California
Section:
News: National
Summary:
The good people of Davis appear to be taking seriously and soberly the news the natural disaster effects on the people, the economy and the environment in the Gulf region. After all, the UCDavis campus began as an experimental farm extension of the Agriculture Department of the University of California, Berkeley during the administration of UC President Wheeler. Many local University faculty,staff, students and alumni have continuing Bay Area roots. Some regulary commute via Amtak or the I 80 freeway. The significance is that both the Gulf and the Bay Area have a shared history of natural disasters like Hurricanes and Flooding is the first instance; Earthquakes and Fire in the second.
Main:
Pacific coast ripple effects of eastern natural disasters are well know to Californians. Tulane students are transferring to departments at UCDavis and the massive internal westward migration in the 1930s from the “Dust Bowl” region to the Central Valley is part of the local history, lore and current cultural landscape. In fact, the Shields Library wall are festooned with massive black and white photos from that era.
So, locals, including those with pioneer roots dating to the pre and post Civil War eras of western migration fully understand that people are prepared to relocate over long distances in search of employment, security and opportunity. Some may argue that the cost of housing is an absolute deterrent. However, the evidence is Calilfornia continues to be a powerful magnet drawing a diverse collection mobile immigants from across the county and around the world. East Indian professionals in Silicon Valley and Yuba peach ranchers know well the long history of massive annual flooding and subsitence recovery on the Indian subcontinent.
New Orleans and San Francisco are major ports servicing vast inland agricultural regions. Both view themselves being smart, worldly and tolerant , yet vulnerable to the unpredictible and massive dictates of nature beyond the control of planning, science and technology.
It takes but a short hike in the mountains or a sea kayak cruise on the coast to appreciate the scope and power what remains random, wild and untamed. Meanwhile, locals remain conflicted about spraying to control West Nile Virus bearing mosquitos.
Perhaps is time for an antedote for fear. The poetry of Robert Service and the many yet to be told stories of hope and survival from the south come to mind. Handwringing analysis laced with blame and shame rhetoric from the distant saloons of New York, Washington and LA Jolla will not suffice.
Some bloggers and CMS sites have taken the storm by the tail and like the old cartoon character, Pecos Bill, they have jumped into the postive action arena offering solutions to problems from places like Austin, Texas. There are thousands of associations, churches, and non govermental organizations that are helping to supporting, supplying the local, state, regional, national and international relief, recovery, relocation and reconstruction efforts.
Meanwhile, Louis Armstrong Airport in New Orleans has become a kind of massive staging area for men and materials. The ability of kids and the young at heart to adapt and carry on continues to supply amazing and inspiring testimony to the power of the human spirit.
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